Many years ago, during the time of the great woodland king, a mighty warrior arose. Cruel and vindictive, half man and half bull. A minotaur, a champion, a warlord to torment the unhappy world. Anor the Annihilator. Together with his band, he tore through Ravenwood, ravaging the forest and burning as hewent. He and his band drove like a battering ram through a weakened gate, devastating anything and anyone who stood in their way. Even the strong quaked before the warlord and his band of wild, orcish men, but amidst all the carnage, there was still hope.
Ravenwood echoed with cries and the clash of metal on metal. Anor’s army was locked in combat with the woodland king’s forces. In the center of the massive army, towering above his allies, stood Anor. Soldiers scattered before him as he and his elite guard swept through the frontlines like a tempest.Resistance was crumbling.
An outburst of astonished cries roes over the torrent of battle.
A great white stag barreled through the minotaur’s elite guard, tossing the enemy left and right. There was a blinding flash, and where the creature had been standing there now stood a tall man with fair hair and shining armor. His sword glittered with a pale light and his kindly grey eyes were hard. Without a word, he tossed aside Anor’s right-hand man, driving his sword through the traitor’s exposed side. The rest of Anor’s guard scrambled away, leaving the fair-haired king to face the minotaur.
For a moment, it seemed King Finaras stood alone. Anor towered above him, a mocking sneer twisting his heavy lip. The battle waged around them as if they’d stepped into the eye of a storm. The minotaur raised his ax.
Then a figure emerged from the chaos, his old cloak billowing around him. Meldryn, the Wizard of the Wood, was not so easily daunted. His eyes flashed, and his staff glowed bright in his hand as he stood, defiant, beside Finaras.
Anor laughed, and with a strength that surpassed that of any mortal men, he brought his ax down on the king.
There was a thunderous clang. Finaras’ sword caught Anor’s blade mid–blow.
Meldryn ran forward, his hand glowing with a strange blue light.
The battle waged on.
The sun traveled downward towards the horizon, painting the forest in the deep crimson light of a tapering sunset. The battlefield was stained with blood.
Meldryn ducked beneath the minotaur’s ax, jutting his hand out and blasting Anor into a tree with a flash of white energy.
Anor growled and staggered back to his hooves, shaking his massive head. His eyes gleamed red in the fading light.
The king stood his ground, but weariness was in his face. His sword was notched, and there was a deep gash along his left arm. He met Meldryn’s eyes as the wizard leaned on his notched staff.
Legend tells that in that moment, Anor’s fate was sealed. The wizard muttered something to the king and a light came back into Finaras’ grey eyes.
With a fierce cry, the king charged back at the towering monster. The wizard stood straight and stared ahead, focusing on something unseen.
Ax and sword clashed again in the dismal dusk. Finaraspressed the minotaur back, protecting the wizard as Meldrynstood, his eyes half shut, muttering under his breath.
A deep roar echoed across the battlefield.
The king leapt out of harm’s way, blood dripping from his sword.
Anor gripped his injured arm, a snarl in his throat. In a blind rage he raised his ax and bore down on the woodland king.
Meldryn gave a shout.
Anor turned to face him, but it was too late.
The wizard’s eyes were glowing white. The air around him seemed to hum. With a great cry he waved his arm as if throwing something towards the minotaur. There was a strange silence, followed by a piercing ring that echoed throughout Ravenwood.
Anor roared and staggered back, slowly, as if he were moving through water. Time seemed suspended around him. The forest fell silent, watching.
The wizard lowered his arm.
Anor’s hooves slipped loudly on the leaves. With a low, moaning cry, the minotaur stumbled drunkenly to the ground. His eyes flitted shut. He sighed and went still.
So it was that in the days of the great woodland kingFinaras, Meldryn cast a powerful spell over Anor the Annihilator, plunging him into a deep sleep. The minotaur’s warrior band was scattered, and the survivors fled. Anor himself was imprisoned underground, left to slumber forever in the dark caves beneath the forest.
Or so legend tells.
The woodland king is nowhere to be found.
No one in Ravenwood has seen the fabled caves or the age-old tunnels that lead down into them. No one has heard of the minotaur save in hushed whispers and half-forgotten tales. Not even the wizard speaks of the legend, and so it has dwindled into obscurity and myth. No one can say for certain if the tale holds so much as a grain of truth.
But stories like to tell, that one day, Anor will awaken again. And woe be to all who are unprepared for his viciousonslaught, or for his vengeance on the wizard who sent him to slumber.
I’ve heard this tale told around campfires since I was a child. I’m glad it has now been captured on parchment. Though we only see him perform simple tricks of magic these days, Meldryn has more up his sleeve than just his arm. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this were true, and he lost this memory among the many heroic deeds he’s performed.